Suffice to say there’s a lot of crazy shit on Facebook. You don’t hafta go far to find some utter inanities, that’s for sure. Earlier today, I stumbled across something that was nevertheless notable: a page entitled Christians Against Slipknot. It’s a real doozy…

As December’s gift-buying chaos falls upon us, rest assured that shopping for your favourite metalhead doesn’t have to be a taxing chore. Whether you’re a bewildered dear one, a metal fan buying for a fellow metal lover, or looking for a treat for yourself, we Hellbounders have a few holiday shopping ideas that might make your task a little easier.

Like I said, there have been countless live albums recorded since ’75–but they’ve been mainly used as a means to squeeze more money out of a loyal fanbase when a certain band doesn’t have enough material to make it back into the studio. Rarely have we seen another band use a live recording to launch their career… until tonite.

If you follow metal it’s highly unlikely you haven’t heard of Ghost. The group – led by an Undead Pope vocalist sporting Satanic vestments – might be the metal band of the moment. Their album Opus Eponymous, which mixes infectious riffs with 1970s trappings, received critical raves. Their shows are packed. They were forced to cancel an American tour due to visa problems and able to book their own headlining tour months later. Fans write Facebook postings offering to work as servants. Rabid detractors only seem to add to their publicity. It may be closing in on Armageddon but it’s a great time to be an anonymous Swede in a cloak.

By the time you read this, tickets for the Deep Purple gig at Massey Hall next year will have just gone on sale. The band will be spending the entire month of February in our country on a 17-date Canadian tour that includes not one, but two gigs in Newfoundland, five concerts in Ontario, and at least one show in every other province except PEI and Quebec. I could be wrong, but I don’t think that a major non-Canadian recording artist has embarked on a cross-country tour of this magnitude in decades. Too bad they couldn’t turn back the clock on those ticket prices…

I gotta say, I’ve always been more of a Maiden man. Put it this way: I heard “2 Minutes to Midnight” before “Living After Midnight.” Well, maybe not, but the former made more of an impression on me. However, when Judas Priest announced their Epitaph farewell tour in the summertime, I didn’t think twice about getting a ticket–even though Kyuss Lives! went on sale the same day. Finally, after several months of waiting, the time has come for their final Toronto gig: Tuesday, November 22nd. I’ll be there with bells on.